Rant #1,810: Listen People

Well, this is my next to last Rant of 2016, so I figured I would tie everything up in a nice bow today and review my 10 favorite record albums of all time, the best albums I have in my collection.

Heck, if others can review the best albums of the year, I can put up my best, and go one better, make it my all-time best.

You already know my best album of 2016, it is “Good Times!” by the Monkees. So many outlets have put this on their personal “Best Ofs” for 2016 that if you haven’t heard this album yet, you really MUST listen to it! Yes, believe it or not, it is really THAT good.

And that is the perfect segueway for my top albums of all time, because the Monkees are on that list too—proving that 50 years from their creation, they still are a one-of-a-kind entity, and that is probably why they aren’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame above all the other reasons I and others have given for their glaring omission.

But that being said, here are my all-time favorites.

1) Monkees-“Headquarters”: Anybody who knows anything about the Monkees knows that this album was really their true coming out party, the first time that they basically ran the show. What could have been an unmitigated disaster turned out to be their finest moment on vinyl, with a cohesiveness that wasn’t found in their first two albums. Featuring such incredible tunes as “For Pete’s Sake” and “Randy Scouse Git,”—which were written by Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz, respectively--no singles were released from the LP in the U.S., and thus, the LP just begs to be listened to as a whole to really get where they were coming from at this time.

2) Monkees-“Head” (soundtrack): I could pretty much say the same thing for this album, but in reverse: Anybody who knows anything about the Monkees knows that this album (and movie) was really their death knell, the last time that their music (and them themselves) meant anything viable in the music world. Again, what could have been a disaster turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and although the LP did have one minor hit single—the psychedelic classic “Porpoise Song”—the album is meant to be listened to as a whole, to get the entire direction of both the music and the movie. An incredible soundtrack to an even more incredible movie, and an album that you can listen to separate from the film and have a great listening experience with.

3) Beatles-“Magical Mystery Tour”: Yes, I know that this really isn’t an album, per se, but in the U.S., it was just that, as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, with a few added on songs to round things out. Funny, but the whole deal is as cohesive as can be, featuring the Beatles at their psychedelic best. So many hits on here that I won’t list them all, but any album with “I Am the Walrus” is right up my alley for the absurd that actually makes quite a bit of sense.

4) Cheap Trick-“Live at Budokan”: I decided to include live and best ofs in this top 10, but they only qualify if they make a musical statement aside from all the hits found on these types of collections. This album certainly did 40 years ago. Cheap Trick was basically a guilty pleasure for a lot of people back then, but this album trumped up their music with a live, adoring audience in Japan, and in the process brought their music up to another level. It is the greatest live album I have ever heard, simply because both the band and the fans seem to be having a good time. And listen to the original album, not the expanded CDs—listen to all we had back then, and I am sure you will agree that this is one powerhouse live album. “I Want You To Want Me” for sure!

5) Elvis Costello-“My Aim Is True”: I think I like albums that surprise me, and this one didn’t just surprise me, it took everyone for a real ride! Looking at this guy, you kind of doubted that he could mesmerize you with his music like he did, but yes, he did, and did it during an era where disco ruled. It is sparse yet deep, and yes, “Alison” should have been a huge it but wasn’t. And the album still holds up all these years later.

6) Sly and the Family Stone-“Greatest Hits”: Sylvester Stewart was THE man in the late 1960s, and he and his band put out a mix of soul, rhythm and blues, rock and pop that was hard to classify, but eventually morphed into funk. This album, featuring all of the band’s earliest, groundbreaking hits, is probably the hottest dance album ever assembled. I defy you to not at least stamp your feet to “Dance To the Music” and the other songs on this recording. And again, don’t listen to the expanded edition, listen to the original—they guy had a lot to say and he said it, all to his own beat.

7) Beatles: “Meet the Beatles”: Again, like my other “Best Ofs,” this LP could have been No. 1, No. 4, No. 6, and there really is no difference to me with the placement of most of these LPs, but if I have to put something somewhere, then this album goes where it goes. The Beatles were such monumental music, social and life changers that it is hard to believe that this is where it all started for them, at least in the U.S. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” is such an incredible song, but all the others here are nearly just as good. This album influenced just about every act at that time, as did pretty much everything they did.

8) Dave Clark Five: “Glad All Over”: The Beatles had competition, and for a while, it was the DC5. This was their own first album, and it is a really good one, featuring a number of their early hits, including the song the LP is named after. They were the proponents of “The Tottenham Sound,” which was different from the Beatles’ “Mersey” sound as it was much louder but every bit as pop/rockfish. This album epitomized that sound, and set the groundwork for a very successful career for these guys, who were never as good as the Beatles were … but who was?

9) Paul Revere and the Raiders: “Spirit of ‘67”: In my mind, probably the most underrated album from that era, this LP really solidified the band from the Pacific Northwest as major hitmakers. “Good Thing” and “Hungry” are on this record, most of the songs are self-penned by the emerging singer/songwriter Mark Lindsay, and if you want to hear the perfect mix of rock, pop and garage and yes, mild psychedelia too, this is the LP to turn to. Much more than just bubblegum.

10) Jimi Hendrix Experience: “Are You Experienced?”: A revolutionary album in its own way, Hendrix, like Stone, mixed soul, rhythm and blues, rock and pop and heavy psychedelia into a cornucopia that hadn’t been touched back then and probably hasn’t been touched since. There was a lot of commercial appeal to this LP, led by “Foxy Lady,” but the tide had turned in music at this point, and Hendrix was the tide turner. Taken in its proper context, this album was an incredible stew, and again, listen to the original LP, not the expanded one, to get its full punch.

I guess you noticed that the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” is not in my Top 10. Yes, it could be No. 11 if I expanded the list, and I understand its importance, but it is simply not one of my Top 10 albums of all time. Period. And that is why it is not on the list. I enjoyed the LP, but these others I enjoyed so much more.

So that is it. What are your favorite LPs of all time? Agree or disagree with my choices?

Please let me know.